First steps

After installation you have one Super Admin and an empty installation. This page walks through the first hour of configuration.

Sign in with the address and password you used for vaultigen:bootstrap. Vaultigen immediately asks you to enroll a second factor. Multi-factor authentication is always required; it cannot be switched off.

If you choose the authenticator app, save the offline recovery codes somewhere safe. They are your way back in if you lose your phone.

2. Review the settings

Open System → Settings and go through each section:

Installation: the display name shown in the browser title, sign-in pages and notifications.
Authentication: which second factors users may enroll (authenticator app, email code or both) and the optional Remember this device period.
Session security: inactivity timeout (default 15 minutes) and absolute session lifetime (at most 12 hours).
Security notifications: addresses that receive alerts about recovery, authentication resets and other sensitive events.
Vault creation: who may create shared vaults (Super Admins only, Super Admins and Vault creators, or any active user) and how many.
Trash and history retention, Audit retention and Import retention: how long deleted items, revisions, security events, IP addresses and import runs are kept.
Site icons: whether the server fetches website icons for login entries.

3. Create teams

Teams make access manageable: grant a vault to a team once, then add and remove people from the team. Create them under System → Teams, for example one per department or project group.

4. Invite users

Under System → Users, choose Invite user. Each invitation is a single-use link that expires after 24 hours. The recipient verifies their email address, chooses a password and enrolls a second factor. See User management.

The free edition allows up to 10 seats (active users plus open invitations). With more users, install a license first.

5. Create vaults and grant access

A Super Admin creates vault shells under Vault administration: a name, an icon, a Custodian and an initial Manager. Creating a vault gives the administrator no access to its contents. The Manager then opens the vault, creates folders and entries, and grants access to people and teams under Vault members.

Every user also gets a personal work vault automatically.

Not sure how to structure vaults? Read Roles and permissions and its worked examples first.

6. Escrow your keys and test a restore

If you have not done so yet: copy the key files to your escrow, take a backup and run a restore drill. See Key management for the full list of what to keep.

7. Migrating from another password manager?